Micah 5:5, 6 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces… And this Man shall be the Peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. "And this same shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall invade our land, and tread our palaces, we will raise against him seven shepherds, and eight anointed men. And they shall afflict the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at the entrances thereof; and there shall be deliverance from the Assyrian, when he shall invade our land, and when he shall tread our borders" (Henderson). Assyria is here made the representative of all the foes of Israel in all ages, who shall see the destruction of all its enemies at the Messiah's appearance. "Seven shepherds and eight principal men. Seven expresses perfection.; seven and eight are an idiom for's full and sufficient number. And they" (that is, these seven and eight shepherds) "shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof." The land of Nimrod means Babylon, including Assyria, to which it extended its borders. "Thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land." As the Assyrians invade our borders, so shall their own borders and entrances be invaded. "He." Who? The Messiah, mentioned in the fifth verse, "This Man shall be the Peace." We have here two things. I. A TERRIBLE INVASION. The Assyrian, which, as we have said, may be regarded as the representative of all the enemies of Israel, enters the Holy Land, takes Jerusalem, and treads in the "palaces" of the chosen people. A faint picture is the Assyrian of the hellish invader of human souls. He breaks his way through all bulwarks, enters the sacred territory, and treads even in the palaces of the intellect and heart. Satan is a strong man armed, that enters the human soul and "keepeth his palace." Moral invasion is the worst of all invasions. II. A TRIUMPHANT DEFENDER. There are "seven shepherds, and eight principal men" who now hurled back the Assyrian invader, entered his own territory, and carried war into the midst. Who is the Deliverer? "This Man shall be the Peace." The Man mentioned in the preceding verses, "whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting." He did it. 1. He did it successfully. "Thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian." "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." Christ will one day ruin this moral Assyrian; as "lightning falleth from heaven he shall fall." He will hurl him from the habitation of men. 2. Christ, in doing this, uses human instrumentality. "Seven shepherds, and eight principal men." Christ destroys the works of the devil by the instrumentality of men. (1) The instrumentality that he employs may seem to us very feeble. "Seven shepherds, and eight principal men," against unnumbered hosts of the enemies. "He chooseth the foolish things of the world to confound the wise," etc. (1 Corinthians 1:27). (2) Though the instrumentality may seem feeble, it was sufficient. The work was done. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zechariah 4:6). - D.T. Parallel Verses KJV: And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. |
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